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The Institute regularly surveys members to inform and influence government and civil servants. Here are some of our most recent surveys:

June 2017: 'Brexit One Year On' Survey

One year on from the UK’s referendum vote to leave the EU, plenty has happened. We’ve gone back to our members and fellow exporters to track their views, attitudes and desires around Brexit in another survey.

The key points from last year’s survey – held in the weeks following the referendum – included the desire from the export community for continued access to the single market and concerns about changes to tariffs, duties and customs. This year’s survey – for which we had over 200 respondents – indicates that little has changed in terms of what exporters want from Brexit and what they are most concerned about.

March 2017: Engineering Industries Association survey

Sir Ronald Halstead, President of the Engineering Industries Association (EIA), attended the Bank of England meeting on 23 March 2017 and presented the results of their recent survey among SMEs in Engineering.

The SME survey from IOE&IT Trade Association member, the EIA, is distributed twice yearly to EIA and IOE&IT members, and forms part of a larger Bank of England survey into the current economic and financial prospects for SME’s.

This survey is influenced by the Brexit referendum result and the structural changes in Whitehall. In comparison with the last survey of 16 September 2016 the following trends are apparent:

Business Confidence is higher

Overall Growth is higher

UK Demand is stronger although 60% is still flat

Export demand is very much stronger

The number of people employed is mostly static

The average increase in pay per employee is mainly 0-2% although the 2-4% is increasing

February 2017: Export Optimism survey

The Institute invited members, established exporters and importers and trade association members to take part in a questionnaire about their optimism for global trade opportunities.

Responses from over 200 participants revealed a strong energy for growth, with 97% of respondents expressing optimism for global trade opportunities.

Members’ positivity is despite a myriad of political risks - fears of a growing protectionist agenda in the US, national elections across Europe potentially upsetting the status quo and Britain's possible fractious divorce proceedings from the EU.

September 2016: Engineering Industries Association survey

Sir Ronald Halstead, President of the Engineering Industries Association (EIA), attended the Bank of England meeting on 16 September 2016 and presented the results of their recent survey among SMEs in Engineering.

The SME survey from IOE&IT Trade Association member, the EIA, is distributed twice yearly to EIA and IOE&IT members, and forms part of a larger Bank of England survey into the current economic and financial prospects for SME’s.

This survey is influenced by the Brexit referendum result and the structural changes in Whitehall. In comparison with the last survey of 21 March 2016 the following trends are apparent:

• Business Confidence is still good, but has declined
• Overall Growth is lower
• UK Demand is flat
• Export demand is stronger
• The number of people employed is mostly static
• The average increase in pay per employee is mainly in the 0-2%
• There are still skill shortages
• 10% of survey will increase prices compared with 30% last time
• Investment intensions are about the same as previously

August 2016: Post-Brexit Survey

The Institute invited members, established exporters and importers and trade association members to take part in a post Brexit questionnaire and help shape how future trading should work.

Responses from over 600 participants from 180 sectors revealed that almost 50% fear the biggest risk post Brexit is added costs through duties or taxes followed by customers and suppliers having a potential negative view of the UK (19%) and exchange rate issues (18%).

Further results show that nearly 54% of those surveyed expect their business growth to remain the same with almost 47% projecting growth to shrink in the medium term – and over 42% forecasting a long-term growth decline.

September 2015: Engineering Industries Association survey

Almost half of respondents taking part in the Engineering Industries Association’s latest survey have experienced a rise in demand for exports across the past six months and are more confident about their business prospects.

The SME survey from IOE Trade Association member, the EIA, is distributed twice yearly to EIA and IOE members on behalf of EIA President, Sir Ron Halstead, and forms part of a larger Bank of England survey into the current economic and financial prospects for SME’s.

June 2015: International Trade Survey

This year’s survey, launched at the GTR Conference, used quota sampling which largely reflected the spread of respondents across the country with Northern Ireland’s responses being around 5% of the total survey and manufacturing areas such as Midlands and North West contributing around 20% each. Over 80% of the businesses had been trading internationally for over 10 years, and over 10% trading more than 5 years, which again gives us an expert view of what is happening and what might be needed to make business easier.